The Exo Alchemist
by GeneicCode
Summary: 100 years after the events of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, a boy, thought to be born normal, has his bones replaces with metal in order to find the secrets of his grandfather
1. Chapter 1 - Birth of the Exo Alchemist

I awoke in a white void. The only things I could see were a sheet white naked boy, who was about my size, with a weird looking head, and a large metal door. On said door was what appeared to be a tree, the leaves of which had words upon them.

"Well, it appears we have another one." the boy said. "But I can see that your intentions aren't to bring someone back."

"That's right." I said. "My grandfather warned me to stay away from those types of Alchemy."

"Were you forced through?" the boy asked.

I shook my head. "Not a chance. Are you even sure there are Alchemists in North City?"

"I don't have many gates in that area, but there are few." the boy said. "Well, if that isn't the reason, what is? I don't see any reason to come here willingly other than the attempt at a Human Transmutation."

"Well, that's a bit of a long story." I said. "My parents died of a mysterious illness, and my grandparents died of old age."

"I thought you said this WASN'T Human Transmutation." the boy said.

"Hold on, I haven't finished yet." I said. "It all happened about a year ago."

 **ROUGHLY ONE YEAR AGO**

"Stop messing with my friends!" I shouted at someone. He was probably twice my size, yet around 3 months younger than me.

"And what are you gonna do about it..." the guy, Travis, said, in a deep voice. "ya little shorty?"

I deeply exhaled in anger. "Says the skyscraper to the rabid fox."

"Pretty small fox." Travis said.

"Alright, screw it." I said, as I slid underneath Travis's legs, punching him in the crotch as I did so. Doing this made one line in the snow we were standing on.

"AGH!" he screamed in pain. "Get back here, you little brat!"

"I think I'm good where I am." I said.

"I'M GONNA KILL YA!" Travis shouted, as he rushed me. He leapt to tackle me, which I slid away to dodge, making another line in the process.

"What's the matter, you big oaf?" I asked. "Too slow?"

"I'll make you eat those words!" Travis shouted, as he ran after me to tackle me again, which I one again slid away from. At this point, I had made a triangle in the snow.

"Come and get me, asshole!" I shouted, running in a single direction for a few seconds, all the while dragging my foot in the snow. Once I finished drawing that line, I stood still, and waited.

"Are you too chicken to fight me head, Dylan!?" Travis asked. "Trying to wear me out by running in circles!?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that a snail could outrun you!" I shouted.

Travis put on his angriest face possible.

After a long while of being chased, I had almost finished. I just needed to encircle my creation. There was just one problem. I was getting exhausted.

"Why don't you just give up?" Travis asked. "There's no way you'll succeed in this fight, midget."

I knew I couldn't stop, though.

"Well why don't you come get me, then?" I asked, as I ran off, still dragging my foot in the snow, as I eventually came full circle around the thing. I was amazed that Travis didn't see what I was doing with the snow.

Once I finished circling my art, I lead Travis to the center, placing myself on the edge.

"Gotcha, you son of a bitch!" I shouted, as I placed my hands in the snow. This caused the lines and the circle to glow.

"What is this!?" Travis asked, horrified, as a large hand of snow rose from the ground, and smacked him onto the ground.

"It's science!" I shouted. "And a damn awesome science at that."

"Ugh..." Travis moaned.

"Next time, think twice before messing with my friends." I said, as I walked past him.

I approached my friends, Samuel and Rick Mustang. They were kind of nerdy, but they can hold their own in a fight if they had to.

Sam had brown hair, and he wore glasses that were designed specifically for hypothermic temperatures. His body was about a foot taller than mine, but he was also much more scrawny, too.

Rick looked pretty much the same as his twin brother, except he was about an inch smalled, less scrawny, and he didn't need glasses.

"What the hell was that!?" Sam asked. "Was that sorcery!?"

"No, that wa- wait, what? Sorcery is summoning living beings, not giant fists of snow." I said. "That was called Alchemy."

Sam and Rick looked puzzled.

"Your great-grandfather was a State Alchemist, and you don't even know what Alchemy looks like?" I asked.

The two shook their heads.

"Where did you learn it?" Rick asked.

"My dad left me my great-grandfather's notes on the subject." I said. "So I guess they're an heirloom now."

"That is what you described." Sam and Rick said simultaneously.

"I thought your family was full of automail engineers." Sam said.

"Yeah, why would they have notes on something like this?" Rick asked.

"The automail business is on my grandmother's side." I said. "Or, rather, it was..."

The three of us stayed silent for a while.

"Alright, I'm out of here." I said, walking away.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"Resembool!" I shouted, not stopping.

"What!?" Rick exclaimed. "What do we do if Travis attacks?"

"Get the hell out of there, that's what!" I shouted. "'Course, you could always join me for the ride."

"Why are you going there, anyways!?" Sam asked.

"I'm going to see what the guys who bought my grandparents' shop are doing with it!" I said, as I waved goodbye.

Before going to the train station, I decided to stop by my house to do some freshening up before leaving.

I walked into my brown, dirty bathroom, and stopped in front of the mirror.

What I saw looking back at me is the same I will ever see: a 5'2", 13 year old, slouching, brown haired boy, with golden eyes. I always kept my hair cut down to a few centimeters above stubble.

After giving my face a good wash, I left the bathroom, and headed out for the train station, where to my not-so-much surprise, I found Sam and Rick.

"We're coming with." Rick said. "Friends stick together."

"Yeah..." I said. "You were scared of Travis attacking, weren't you?"

"Not at all." Sam said, the lies obvious in his voice.

"Whatever you say." I said, before looking above Sam's head. "Hey Travis."

The two twins leapt behind me, as I laughed lightly.

"That was not funny, Dylan." Rick said.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." I said, as a train drove by. "Come on, we'll be boarding soon."

 **ONE DAY LATER**

"So... This is the country." Sam said.

"Sure is." I said.

"Smells like horse shit." Rick said.

"Sure does." I said. "By the way, what did you say to your parents before you left?"

"The truth." Sam said. "They're very understanding."

"Really?" I asked. "Last time you were taken out past your bedtime, your mom threw a knife at me."

"They're very understand of US." Rick said. "They don't like the people that cause these kinds of things."

"Remind me to never get into a fight with your parents." I said. "Follow me. The shop isn't too far."

"You say the shop isn't too far, but there I don't see a shop anywhere." Sam said.

"Well, the truth is..." I said, hesitantly. "The shop is actually a house that sells stuff."

"Sounds pretty illegal to me." Rick said.

"Just follow me." I said, as I lead the two of them to a two story house, with a nice little padio on the front. The color of the house was yellow, with a white trim and a light black roof. Above and behind the padio was a balcony.

The three of us walked up to the door, and I knocked on it 3 times.

"Ugh..." I heard someone growl. "Whoever's there, get lost. We don't want business at the moment."

"HELP! MY ARM WAS CUT OFF!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, much to the suprise of Sam and Rick. It caused me to laugh quietly, though, as I heard a bang, followed by really quick and loud footsteps, each one getting closer than the last.

"Don't worry kid, I'll give a-" a man said, as the door flung open.

"Miss me?" I asked, eyes closed and grinning my ass off.

"Well well, if it isn't Dylan Rockbell." the man said. His name was Sid Armstrong. Despite him being not much older than myself, this guy could lift a truck with his pinky.

"How's it going, Sid?" I asked. "Trashed my parents' old shop yet?"

"I'd say I've actually improved it's status." Sid said. "I guess having an owner from a billion dollar family would do that to a small business. People are coming in from all over the country."

"Billion dollar!?" Sam asked.

"All over the country!?" Rick added on.

"Yeah, it's amazing." I said. "By the way, you treating my grandfather's leg well?"

"Well the fact that it was owned by a State Alchemist helps business if that's what you mean." Sid said, laughing.

I, however, was not laughing.

"Dylan, I didn't know your grandfather was a State Alchemist." Sam said.

"He wasn't..." I said. "He told me himself when I was a little kid, shortly after I learned about Alchemy, that he couldn't perform it."

"Really?" Sid asked. "My uncle always went on with stories about the legendary Alchemist who could perform Alchemy with even using a circle."

My eyes shot open wide.

"He recognized him in the pictures on your wall that you refused to take with you." Sid said.

"Let me see." I said, shoving Sid aside, as I entered the house to look at the picture wall. I pointed to a picture of a boy with long, braided blond hair, and the same gold eyes as me. "That's him, right?"

Sid nodded. "Just look at his left pant pocket."

I looked as close as I could, but all I saw was a chain. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"The pocket watch." Sid said.

I looked closer. "I guess that chain could belong to a pocket watch, but so what if it does?"

"Hang on, I'll print a picture for you." Sid said, running upstairs, and I heard a computer turn on.

"Whoever invented computers was a genius." I said, as I heard a machine whirring. It sounded like a printer.

Once the picture was done, I heard a paper swiping sound, and then I heard Sid running down the stairs again to give me the paper.

I took the page reluctantly, and looked at the image printed upon it.

I saw the lion symbol, surrounded by many lines, their positions would be hard to describe. It was the pocket watch of the State Alchemists.

 _Pokcet watch... Of the State Alchem- Wait!_ I thought. "So my grandfather had one of these in his pocket!?"

Sid nodded. "He, along with your uncle Al, fought to protect this country 100 years ago. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't even be here right now."

I paused for a second. "So which one was he?" I asked.

Sid shook his head. "I was never told."

"Okay." I said, leaning towards a chair. "I think I need to sit down."

Sam and Rick grabbed me, and helped me into a chair.

"You okay?" Rick asked. "Seems pretty cool that Sam and I aren't the only ones."

"Yeah, it's just a lot to take in." I said. "I only just realized how little my parents and grandparents told me."

"You think there's more?" Sam asked.

"There probably is." I said. "I should try to figure out what, but how would I do that?"

"Wait, why do you have to figure out?" Rick asked.

"If you just figured out you knew nothing about where you came from, wouldn't you go searching too?" I asked. "Because I know I would. There's just something drawing me to do it, like I know that I have to do this."

Sid looked at me from head to toe. "Not with your body, you aren't." he said. "There is no way you could gain the information you want from this country alone."

"What are you suggesting? That I start exercising until I get your strength?" I asked. "How long would that take?"

"A few years, probably." Sid said.

I shook my head. "I can't wait that long." I said.

"Well there's no shortcut." Sid said.

I sighed, and was about to give up, until I noticed my grandfather's right arm in the photograph. "How did he lose his limbs?"

"I believe it was some sort of transmutation." Sid said.

"What if I figure out what that transmutation was, and replicate it on myself?" I asked. "It might take a while to figure out what the transmutation was, but once I did it, how long would rehabilitation take?"

"It depends on what you lose." Sid said. "An arm would be 1 to 3 months, depending on how much you lose, legs would be 3 to 6 months-"

"What about a skeleton?" I asked.

"You can't be serious." Sid said, before I shot a glare at him. "Alright, alright. A skeleton hasn't been done before, so it could take 1 year to figure out, and possibly 6 to 9 months of rehabilitation."

"Alright. So I have 1 year to figure out the transmutation." I said. "I'll start on that right now."

"You can't actually be going through with this." Sam said.

"I am." I said. "I feel like there's a reason that I have to learn this knowledge for, I just need to know what."

"Are you sure your gut can be trusted in this situation?" Rick asked.

"Well, there's no way of knowing without trying it first." I said. "I'm aware of the risk, and I will take the consequences.

"Let's not try to stop him." Sid said. "If he wants to be stupid, let him. If he needs our help, we don't have to give it."

"But you're going to, right?" I asked.

Sid grinned. "Of course I am."

I nodded, and ran upstairs.

 **ONE YEAR LATER**

"So that's your reason for coming here?" the boy asked. "What a fool."

"I may be a fool." I said. "But I accept the consequences of doing so."

The boy grinned. "Very well. I will accept your skeleton, if that is what you wish me to take. And, as an added bonus, I will let you see into the gate of truth."

I looked at the large, metallic door, which began to open. Inside, hands made of shadows reached out to grab me, and pulled me in.

Once inside, I saw clips of all the things closest to me. Sam, Rick, Sid, mom, dad, grandmother, grandfather... Everything.

After that, it's like I was attempting to have all of the knowledge of the universe crammed into my head at once.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" I screamed. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOOOP!"

After a long period of time, I was thrown out of the gate.

"So since I can't get out of here without my skeleton, do you mind getting me out of this void?" I asked.

"Don't worry." the boy said. "You will leave on your own."

"Who are you, anyways?" I asked.

"I am referred to as many names. I prefer to be called Truth, out of all of them." the boy said.

"Why? Is one of them fat boy?" I asked.

"You know what? This is ridiculous. I'm taking your bones now." Truth said, as I could feel my body go limp. I saw my bones seep out from under my skin, only to enter Truth.

"See you again." Truth said, grinning.

 **IN THE REAL WORLD, 6 MONTHS LATER**

"How do you feel?" Sid asked.

"Much better." I said. "I feel like I can actually move without my bones scraping against each other when I do so."

"Okay, that's good." Sid said. "I also got your first lead on your answers a few days ago."

"Let me see." I said, as Sid reached for some papers in his desk. He pulled out a picture, which I took. "Alright, this is definitely grandpa. Where was this taken?"

"Given how much the country's changed, I can't say for sure." Sid said. "However, given the pictures on the wall and the internet, my guess would be Central."

"Who should I look for?" I asked.

"There's an old lady who lives there. She's the granddaughter of a military man, who was killed in a phone booth." Sid said. "Her name is Elizabeth Hughes."

"Alright." I said. "Hey, your sister lives in Central, right?"

"Lay so much as a hand on my sister, and you won't be getting a new skeleton when I break your current one." Sid said.

"You could've just said 'hands off your sister' and been done with it." I said, as I walked out the door.

I walked along the path to the train station, smelling the horse shit smell for the last time in a while.

 _I wonder how Sam and Rick are._ I thought, as the train passed by the station.

"Guess I'm out of here... For now." I said, as the train passing by came to a halt, and I boarded. "I'll be back, though."

 **Well, tell me what you guys thought. Leave a review, add this to your favourites, and add it to your alerts as well if you enjoyed it.**

 **If you didn't quite enjoy it, leave a review telling me how I can improve. See you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Wolfhand Alchemist

I stepped off the train, having recently arrived in Central. Once I was on solid ground, I had a look around.

 _Sure is different than it is up north._ I thought. _Much bigger, too. How the hell am I supposed to find one woman in a large town like this?"_

I expected there to be 20, maybe 30 houses in Central, given the size of every other town I've seen. But there were hundreds, it would take months to look through them all. There had to be an easier way.

 _Wait, why am I so eager to search for one woman?_ I wondered. _This is my chance to see the sights. I just wish I brought my camera._

That's when I realized that I had virtually no luggage whatsoever. All I had was enough change to rent a room at a cheap hotel for a month. That left me with three options.

First, I could start searching right then and there, and find Elizabeth Hughes in less than a day. That was obviously the one with the least chance of succession.

Second, I could rent a room at a hotel. This seemed to be the safest option available.

Third, I could find Sid's family and ask to stay with them. Only problem, I've met his sister, and she's gorgeous. That option could get me the most throat punched when I return to Resembool.

Still, while that was the most dangerous option, it also seemed the most tolerant. So, with no better choices, I called a taxi to take me to the Armstrong household.

 **ROUGHLY ONE HOUR LATER**

Once at the door, I knocked 3 times, chipping off a piece of the wood on the door on the third door.

"Alright, good to know that my strength is better than before." I muttered, as someone spoke through an intercom.

"Hello?" a man asked. "Who's there?"

"I'm a friend of Sid's." I said. "My name is Dylan Rockbell, I'm just looking for a place to stay."

"Get lost." the man said.

"Come on, please?" I asked. "I used half of the money I have just to get here."

"I don't know if you've noticed, kid, but this place is clearly home to a rich family." the man said. "We don't give out spare rooms to random people passing by!"

"Didn't you just hear me?" I asked. "I said that I was friends with Sid Armstrong!"

"And how would you go about proving that?" the man asked.

"Just ask Cassy, she'll vouch for me." I said.

"Hate to tell you, kid, but Cassy's gone out for the week." the man said. "She's visiting friends in Ishval."

 _Sounds like her._ I thought. "Okay, thanks anyways."

With that done, I didn't have much else to do. Not wanting to waste the rest of my money, I decided to walk back into town.

 **MANY, MANY HOURS LATER**

By the time I got back to the civilized area of the city, it was practically nightfall. I still hadn't found a place to stay, obviously, so I thought that I'd have to stay outside.

That was when I saw someone carrying groceries. She was a girl, about my age, with blonde, curly hair, and caucasian skin. She was carrying a lot, and it looked like she might drop it if someone didn't help.

Because of this, I ran over to help. I arrived just as she dropped what appeared to be an ice cream container.

With all the trouble she already had, I crouched, and picked up the container, looking at the type of ice cream she dropped.

"Sundae Tin Roof..." I said, quietly.

"That would be mine." the girl said, as she reached an aching arm forward, until she noticed a bead of water drop from my eye. "Is something wrong?"

"This was what my mom used to get..." I said, a few seconds before wiping the tear away. "Alright, you seem to be having trouble. Let me help."

"I don't want to be any trouble." the girl said.

"No trouble at all." I said, as I took a little over half of her load. "I don't have anywhere else to be."

"Nobody's expecting you home?" the girl asked.

"Quite the opposite, they're not expecting me home for a few months." I said, as she lead the way to her house. "So, what's your name?"

"Ashley." she said. "Ashley Hughes."

"Hughes?" I asked. "Is your mother's name Elizabeth?"

"Yes. How did you know?" Ashley asked.

"My grandfather was good friends with your grandmother and great-grandfather." I said. "I was hoping one of your family would know some things about him, and she was recommended by my friend Sid."

"Okay... That's a bit creepy." Ashley said.

I giggled a bit. "Sorry, I didn't want to seem creepy."

"Nobody does. It just happens." Ashley said. "So, what was your grandfather's name?"

"Well, he changed his last name to Rockbell when he married my grandmother, so I don't know what his last name used to be, but his first name was Edward." I said. "He was apparently a State Alchemist and never told me."

"Edward... Rockbell... Sounds familiar." Ashley said. "I think my grandmother might have mentioned those names before."

"Well let's go get these groceries to your house first." I said. "I'm Dylan, by the way. Dylan Rockbell."

"Nice to meet you, Dylan." Ashley said, smiling. "Just don't go interrogating my family, alright?"

"I'll try my best." I said, smiling back.

 **AT THE HUGHES'S APARTMENT**

"That you for helping my daughter, mister... Uhh..." Elizabeth Hughes, Ashley's mother, said. She had grey, aged hair frilling off of her head, and her skin was quite wrinkled.

"Mr. Rockbell." I said. "Mr. Dylan Rockbell, that is. Or just Dylan works fine as well."

"Rockbell, huh?" Elizabeth asked. "Tell me, is your grandmother Winry Rockbell?"

"Yeah, that's right." I said. "Were you two close?"

"She was closer to my mother than to me." Elizabeth said. "And your grandfather... Was his name Edward Elric?"

I looked at Ashley. "I thought you asked me not to interrogate her, why doesn't the same restriction apply to her?"

"He doesn't know his grandfather's old last name." Ashley said, completely ignoring my question. "He changed it to Rockbell when he got married."

"Hmm..." Elizabeth hummed. "Tell me, how much do you know about your grandfather?"

"Probably about as well as you know me." I said.

"So you don't know what he did 100 years ago?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not the specifics, just that he saved the country." I said.

"History class must be terrible in Resembool." Elizabeth sighed.

"Well, yes, it was, but I moved to North City." I said. "What did he do?"

"... Very well. I shall tell you the tale of the Fullmetal Alchemist." Elizabeth said.

 **AFTER ONE LONG EXPLANATION AS TO WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FINAL FIGHT**

 **(IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, YOU SHOULD... WAIT, WHY ARE YOU READING THIS FANFIC WITHOUT HAVING WATCHED THE SHOW?)**

"So my grandfather took out someone with the powers of god?" I asked.

"Well, after having weakened him first, but yes." Elizabeth said. "However, he could not have done it alone."

"Is that all you know?" I asked.

"Well, it's all I was ever told." Elizabeth said. "Were you hoping for more?"

"Yes." I said. "It's alright, though. I have an excuse to start traveling around the world, now."

"Well you may not have to travel very far." Elizabeth said. "There must be some information on him in the library."

"Alright." I said, as I walked to the door to exit the apartment. "Thank you two very much for the help."

With that said, I exited the room, but then I realized I forgot something and opened the door again.

"Three streets north, five streets east." Elizabeth said, to which I nodded and closed the door again.

 **AT THE LIBRARY**

"Of course, I get here, and there's nothing on the guy." I muttered. "Now what do I do?"

"AAAHHHHHH!" someone screamed.

"Oh comical timing, how I despise you." I said, before running over to the source of the scream. It wasn't too far away, about a block at most.

"MONSTER!" another person screamed, pointing at something.

"Monster?" I asked, before looking at what they were pointing at. It gave the appearance of a wolf, yet a man at the same time. It stood on its hind legs, and had opposable thumbs. However, it also had grey fur, long claws, and was slightly hunched over. I would be able to indentify the gender, except it was wearing ripped up shorts.

Man or woman, this was no monster at all.

This was a chimera.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, walking forwards.

"Hmm?" the wolf chimera hummed. It sounded as if two voices were talking at the same time when this happened, yet only one of them stuck out clearly, and it was too deep to identify. "Brown hair, midget... You're the one I seek?"

"You know, that's a bit offensive that you think I'm the only brown haired short person," I started, before running up, and punching the wolf chimera into the ground, my exo skeleton giving me some extra speed. "but you still called me short, so you're dead now."

"How are you the one to give me the threats?" the chimera asked.

"Why do you think I'm the one you're searching for?" I asked. "I haven't done anything wrong... Yet."

"You are a potential threat to my master's plan." the chimera said.

"Well, if you survive this, tell your master I'm flattered." I said, as I clapped my hands together, causing stones to rise from the ground. "Too bad that's probably not going to happen!"

I thrust my hands forwards, launching the stones at the chimera, as they transformed into drills in midair.

"What!?" the chimera exclaimed, as it narrowly avoided the stone drills. "I expected a transmutation without a circle, but without touching the object you're transmuting!?"

"It's a type of alchemy my grandfather helped my uncle make after they traveled the globe, researching different types of alchemy." I said. "That move just used alchemy from multiple countries, including Xing."

"Really?" the chimera asked. "Well I expect this battle to be full of suprises."

"Count on it." I said, as I rushed towards the chimera again, this time going for a spin kick. In the middle of the kick, however, I clapped my hands, turning my thick leather shoe into extremely thin metal, immediately before it collided with the chimera's head, causing it to fall to the ground. Despite the metal being thin, the kick did a massive amount of damage.

Or, at least it should have.

The chimera pushed itself off the ground, and rubbed it's head. "That tickled."

"What the hell...?" I asked, as I clapped, turning my shoe back into leather. "How are you still conscious?"

"I said that this battle would be full of surprises." the chimera said. "I never said that all the surprises would be from you."

I growled loud. This fight was going to be tough.

"You seem mad." the chimera said. "Maybe this is where you should just drop dead."

"Not a chance." I said, clapping my hands together once again, followed by the chimera rushing towards me, seperating my hands, and pinning me against a wall by my wrists.

"Oh, what will you do now?" the chimera asked. "You can't transmute without your hands, can you?"

"Not with the clapping, I can't." I said, as I put my foot against the chimera's chest. "But with a transmutation circle, I can use any part of my body!"

"What!?" the chimera exclaimed, as it was blasted back by a strong gust of wind, pushing it into a wall.

"Well, what do you think of that neat trick, huh!?" I asked, showing the chimera the bottom of my shoe. Sure enough, there was a transmutation circle for air.

The chimera laughed. "Thanks for showing me your secret, wise guy! Now I know how you transmuted the ground without touching it!"

"There are a number of many possibilities on why that COULD be wrong." I said, as I put my foot on the ground, and clapped again. "But I guess this is a good one to start with."

I lifted the same foot up once again, and much to the chimera's suprise, the circle was gone.

"Wha- but you- you jus- what happened!?" the chimera asked.

I grinned, as I rushed over to the chimera, and lifted it off the ground, all the while choking it. "Give me answers. Who do you work for?"

"Oh come on." the chimera said, as it began to shift its form. Once it finished, I saw a girl, roughly my age, maybe a bit older. Her hair was pitch black, and wavy, going all the way down to her butt. Also, her boobs were fairly large. The only part of her body that did not change human was her right arm.

However, much like her arm, she maintained her attire from her wolf form.

"You wouldn't hurt a girl, would you?" the girl asked, worriedly, as she covered her breasts with her arms.

"Ya know... You should probably put a top on." I said, trying my best to avert my eyes as I blushed.

"Does it look like I have one!?" she asked.

I sighed, and threw her to the ground. Instead of dealing another blow, however, I took my shirt off, and tossed it to her. "Put that on. Keep attacking if you want, but I won't fight back while you're this vulnerable."

She stared at me, still covering her chest, as she bent over to pick up the black t-shirt I gave her.

"Thanks." she said, grudgingly, as she pulled it over her head. Once she put it, she pulled her long hair out of it.

"Great. Now, can we get back to fighting?" I asked.

"What!? No, I give up!" she shouted, causing me to look curiously at her.

"You were pretty willing to just a second ago." I said. "Is it dual personalities or some crap like that?"

She nodded, slowly.

I sighed. "Just tell me your name, and who you work for."

Looking scared, she clapped her hands, and stuck them in the ground, causing a cloud of dust to appear.

"What!?" I exclaimed, as the dust cloud cleared. I looked where she stood, and nobody stood there. However, there was some writing in the ground.

I walked forward, and saw what the writing said.

"Call me the Wolfhand Alchemist"

 **AT THE MILITARY HEADQUARTERS**

"'Wolfhand Alchemist'?" a man in a blue jacket, a white, full collar shirt and a tie asked. "Sorry, I've never heard of her."

"Well do me a favor, check the records?" I asked, pulling a piece of paper, and writing down Sid's number with a pen that was on the receptionist desk. "And if you ever find anything, could you call this number, and tell who ever answer to 'tell Dylan that we got something'? I know this is a lot to ask from someone not even in the military, it's just really important."

"Well... I'll see what I can do, but even if I find something, I can't promise anything." the man said, before staring at my bare chest. "Do you... Need a shirt?"

"Do you have t-shirts?" I asked.

"No, only military standard uniforms." the man said.

"Well I lost my shirt by choice. If you don't have a t-shirt, I'll just look in a clothing store nearby." I said. "There's gotta be one not too far."

"I see. Well, have a nice day." the man said.

"You too, thanks for the help." I said, walking out of the building.

 **ONE DAY LATER, BACK IN RESEMBOOL**

"Couldn't find much out, huh?" Sid asked.

"Well, I found out one thing." I said. "My grandfather was a genius at inventing alchemy."

"Yeah, I guess so... Anyways, I may have to fix your exo skeleton. It got pretty banged up, especially in the wrists." Sid said. "Also, I'll have to replace the metal with something that can withstand hypothermic temperatures."

"Hmm?" I hummed. "And why's that?"

"Because I was thinking of using the slits where I inserted your skeleton for a neat little upgrade, but it will involve having metal on your skin." Sid said.

"That doesn't at all explain the metal change." I said. "Do you have another lead on my grandfather again?"

"I do." Sid said. "Remember those friends you brought over here a year and a half ago?"

"Yeah, what about them?" I asked.

"Their grandfather was pretty close with yours." Sid said. "If they don't know anything, their parents sure should."

"So I'm heading back to North City?" I asked. "Why would I even want this upgrade, anyways?"

"Trust me, you'll enjoy it." Sid said. "The upgrade will be in both legs and arms."

"Well, how long until it's finished?" I asked.

"I finished it while you were gone." Sid said. "After making an entire skeleton once, doing it a second time wasn't very difficult."

"Alright, let's do it." I said.

"You seem pretty mellow for someone who was whining like a baby when I inserted his jaw." Sid said. "Alright, lie down on the table again. I'll get to work on replacing your skeleton now. It might take a week or so to get used to."

"Well it better be as good as you say." I said, as I lay myself down.

"Alright... Now the arms and legs are thicker this time, so this might hurt a bit more than last time." Sid said.

"Thicker?" I asked, curiously.

 **ONE WEEK LATER, NORTH CITY**

"Now that your little science dork is out of the way, I can take care of you two with ease." Travis said, walking up to Sam and Rick.

"I'm all out of breath, Rick." Sam said, huffing and puffing.

"Same here, Sam." Rick said, mimicking Sam.

"I guess this is it." Sam said. "We're done for."

"I think you're right." Rick said. "It's our time, now."

"I'm going to bury your heads in snow and freeze you there with ice!" Travis shouted.

"You're my only brother, Rick." Sam whined. " I love ya, bro!"

"I love ya too, bro!" Rick whined.

Travis reached his hands forwards to grab Sam and Rick, but something got in his way.

"What are you doing with my friends?" I asked, as I stood between Travis and the Mustang twins. Travis gripped onto my right arm, and pushed with all of his might, but I wouldn't budge.

"What're you doing here!?" Travis asked. "I thought you'd left for good!"

"Originally, that was the plan." I said. "But, something got me coming back here."

"You little midget!" Travis shouted.

I held out my left arm, and rolled down my black winter jacket sleeve, which hid an arm band. I moved the arm band as well, which showed a metal hole in my arm.

Out of the hole extended a long, skinny pipe, which formed itself into a large blade on the outside of my arm.

"Care to repeat that, you son of a bitch?" I asked, much to the terror of Travis, who released his grip on me, and began to back off.

"Wh- what is that?" Travis asked.

"That's a part of my arm." I said. "Back off of my friends, or else I will find out about it, and you will see just how sharp it is."

Travis nodded hurriedly, and ran away.

Once that was done, I used the transmutation circle Sid carved into each of my limbs to fold the blade back into a pipe, and insert it back into my body. Once that finished, I covered it up with my armband again, and rolled my sleeve back down.

"What would you guys do without me?" I asked, as I high fived Sam, followed by Rick.

"Was that Alchemy?" Sam asked.

"We've been reading about that since you left, and you need a circle to be able to do it, I thought." Rick said.

"Well, Sid carved one into each of my bones." I said. "Not that I needed it. I was able to transmute without a circle since losing my bones in the first place."

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Show us!" Rick suggested.

I sighed, followed by me clapping my hands, causing the snow beneath my feet to swirl around me, like a tornado. I then shot my arms forward, which then the snow forward, in the form of multiple snowballs.

This caused me to laugh a bit. "I should've done that to Travis, now that I think about it."

"I could totally picture that!" Sam shouted, before he burst out laughing. "Travis with a face full of snow!"

"Remind me never to get in a snowball fight with you." Rick said. "So, what brings you back home?"

"Well, I need to talk to your parents about my grandfather." I said. "I figure one of them should know something."

"What are we standing here for, then?" Sam asked.

"You're right. Let's get going!" Rick said, as the three of us ran to the Mustang household.

 **I'm back for the second chapter, after about 2 days. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Well, tell me what you guys thought. Leave a review, add this to your favourites, and add it to your alerts as well if you enjoyed it.**

 **If you didn't quite enjoy it, leave a review telling me how I can improve. See you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Drybone's Appearance

"AGH!" I screamed, holding my red cheek. "Was the slap really necessary?"

"That's what you get for taking my boys away for 2 days, and then disappearing for a year and a half." Sam and Rick's mother, Mrs. Mustang, said.

Mrs. Mustang had brown, curly hair, which reached the middle of her back. Her skin was slightly wrinkled from years of age. She was roughly 6 feet tall, maybe 6 and a half, and she's quite skinny.

"I was thinking you'd forget about that field trip after a while." I said. "Most people would after a year and a half."

"Well I'M not most people." Mrs. Mustang said, proudly.

"Why did I get the friends with a mom with a photographic memory?" I asked, when something popped into my head. "Actually, that may help me out here."

"Oh?" Mrs. Mustang asked. "And why's that?"

"I would like to know more about my grandfather." I said. "Apparently, he was close with your father. I believe he was known as 'the Fullmetal Alchemist'."

"Oh?" Mrs. Mustang asked. "You have the blood of the Elrics in you?"

"I guess, but I'm not sure how that's special." I said. "That's what I want to figure out. What things has he kept from me?"

"Do you not pay attention in school?" Mrs. Mustang asked.

"Funny, someone asked me that exact question a couple of days ago." I said. "I never had the money to go to school, you know that."

"Yet you were able to decipher your ancestors' notes?" Mrs. Mustang asked.

I shot a glare at Sam and Rick.

"You didn't make it seem so secret." Sam said.

"She noticed something lifting the snow outside, what else were we going to say?" Rick asked.

"A snowstorm could have worked." I said. "Or you could have said that you weren't there."

"Yeah, I guess that could have worked." Sam said.

"Why didn't we think of that again?" Rick asked.

"I don't really know. Do you?" Sam asked.

"Not really, no." Rick said.

I sighed, as I turned my attention back to Mrs. Mustang. "Yes, I was able to decipher them. It wasn't as difficult as one would think."

"So two absolute fools could decipher your grandfather's and your great-grandfather's master work?" Mrs. Mustang asked.

"I don't know..." I said, turning my attention to Sam and Rick. "You two up for it?"

"Hey, unlike you, we actually go to school!" Sam exclaimed.

"We probably have more knowledge in science than you do!" Rick exclaimed.

"You sure about that?" I asked. "How about YOU decipher those notes?"

Sam and Rick gulped.

"Don't think you can?" I asked. "Come on it's easy."

 **4 HOURS LATER**

"I give up." Sam said.

"Same. This is impossible." Rick said.

"Really?" I asked. "How much did you get done?"

"Maybe a paragraph." Sam said.

"Spread out over the whole thing." Rick said.

"Weird. I remember having more than that done by now." I said.

"Well, you didn't come here for these notes, anyways." Mrs. Mustang said. "I'll tell you what my father told me about your grandfather."

"Finally, no more detours!" I exclaimed in victory.

 **AFTER AN EXPLANATION ON THE HOMUNCULI, AND THEIR CONFLICT WITH ED**

"And that's all he told me." Mrs. Mustang said.

"Okay, so I know his enemies, as well as their master." I said. "Nothing about him specifically, though."

"Well maybe the Armstrongs know something." Mrs. Mustang said. "Alex Louis Armstrong spent a lot of time with your grandfather."

"They won't even let me talk to them without evidence that I know their son, but he never leaves the house unattended." I said. "The farthest he'll go is about the distance between his house and any form of physical activity, such as chopping wood."

"What about another Armstrong you know?" Mrs. Mustang asked.

"She's visiting friends in Ishval, and... Well, Sid would kill me if I went near her." I said. "That's about it."

"Well take your chances with the girl." Sam suggested. "Maybe Sid won't mind you talking to her."

"Although his sister might." Rick said.

"Worth a shot." I said. "I'll get Cassy."

With that all finished up, I decided to step outside of the building, and headed for the train station.

"Wait!" Sam shouted, as he and Rick ran to catch up to me.

"We're coming with!" Rick shouted.

"I won't argue." I said, as I continued walking. "If you want to come with, you can. I don't believe in dead weights, so you might come in handy somewhere."

"Was that a compliment or an insult?" Sam asked after he caught up to me.

"Just take it as a compliment." Rick said, as he joined his brother.

"Boys, wait!" Mrs. Mustang shouted, as she ran to catch up to us. She was carrying a white briefcase.

"Mom, we're going." Sam said.

"Dylan's our friend, we're not letting anything get in his way, or ours." Rick said.

"I know." Mrs. Mustang said. "But if you're going with him, you may want this."

She handed the boys the briefcase.

"What's that?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but their grandfather told me to give this to my sons should they ever choose to leave home." Mrs. Mustang said.

"And you just blindingly agreed?" I asked, as Sam and Rick took the briefcase.

"Thank you, mom," Sam said.

"We'll treat it with care, and we'll be back soon." Rick said.

After that, we continued walking away, as Mrs. Mustang waved goodbye.

"Why didn't you join me the first time?" I asked.

"Reasons of unimportance." Sam and Rick said simultaneously.

"Whatever. Let's look at the briefcase on the train." I said.

"Assuming you three don't lose your lives on the trip there." someone behind us said, causing us all to turn our heads.

What we saw was a boy, roughly my age, with pitch black hair, and caucasian skin. His hairstyle was similar to mine, except it was a little bit longer. Also, despite being in North City, he wasn't wearing a jacket, just a black T-shirt and some jeans.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Asking for my name right up front, I see." the boy said. "Unlike you did with Wolfhand."

"Answer my question, or your head will be amputated!" I shouted.

"Such big words for a non-educated kid your age." the boy said.

"Answer my question!" I shouted, clapping my hands together, causing snow to rise from the ground, creating skinny snow twisters.

"Alright, calm down." the boy said. "You can call me 'the Drybone Alchemist'."

"Drybone, huh?" I asked. "So your alchemy must effect your bones in some way."

"I see you picked that up quickly." Drybone said. "Would you care for a little sparring match? Free shot, right off the bat."

I looked around for a potential trick, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Without much else to do, I ran over to Drybone to make the first strike.

However, I fell over halfway there.

"Nice job, Dylan." Sam said.

"No, something tripped me!" I shouted.

"What was it?" Rick asked.

I looked where I was tripped, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Nevermind then, guess I'm just clumsy." I said. "Let's try this again!"

Instead of taking the ground route, I clapped my hands together, causing the ground beneath me to raise me into the air, which I leapt off of, giving me an aerial approach.

Once I was close, I drew my blade, and made a strike for Drybone's neck. However, that strike was stopped halfway between the start and finish of the chop.

"Oh, I suppose I should take the time to introduce you to my companion." Drybone said. "Meet the Camo Alchemist, a chameleon chimera."

"That's a bit unfair!" I shouted, as I drew my other blade, and threw rapid attacks at Drybone, hoping to defeat his chameleon friend.

"It's useless, don't you see?" Drybone asked. "You will never stop him from stopping you. I, on the other hand, have plenty of opportunity to attack."

Drybone turned his own bones into blade, and made his own rapid cuts at me. Whenever I attempted to block, a hand always pulled me back.

"How does it feel, son of Elric!?" Drybone asked. "How does it feel to be consecutively screwed from two angles!?"

"If you weren't guys, I would feel kind of like a stud." I said.

"Well, I suppose it's time for me to end this!" Drybone said, as he made a 360° swipe at my neck.

This attack would have succeeded, had I not heard an explosion behind me, freeing my hands, allowing me to block.

"What!?" Drybone asked, as I made a swipe with my free hand at his hip. Once he was out of the way, I turned to see who it was that saved me.

The answer surprised me.

"We'll take care of this invisible fellow for you!" Sam said, snapping his hand with some sort of glove, causing a spark to fly off. That spark soon became a massive flame for a short second.

"We deciphered enough of your grandfather's notes to be able to use this!" Rick said, replicating was Sam did, using another glove.

"So, you made some new Alchemist friends, I see?" Drybone suggested. "Well we shall eliminate you despite this glaring team difference."

"That's where you're wrong." I said, as I whipped my body around, causing my exo blade to clash with Drybone's bone blade. "I will not lose here. Not while you and your master are still in this world, not to mention the rest of the Chimera Alchemists."

Drybone put more pressure on his blade, causing me to do the same.

"Speaking of which, what's your chimera form?" I asked.

"I'm not like the others!" Drybone shouted, as he knocked my blade out of the way, and leapt backwards. "I am superior!"

Drybone clapped his hands together, causing the snow around him to rise into skinny twisters.

"How are you doing that!?" I exclaimed, as I clapped my own hands together, causing more snow to rise around me, in the form of even more skinny twisters.

"Do you honestly think your grandfather was the first to think of the idea of combining Alchemy from other countries!?" Drybone asked, as we both thrust our hands forward, causing our snow twisters to collide with each other. "If that was on your mind for even a second, then you need to get your head out of your ass!"

The two of us stopped our snow twister duel, as we both simultaneously clapped, putting transmutation circles on the bottom of our shoes, which we again used for a snow twister battle, but this time, we mixed in fighting with organic blades.

"You're a fairly worthy opponent!" Drybone shouted, his voice being buffeted by the sound of the twister duel in the background. "Even in your injured condition, you have the ability to keep up with me!"

"You're not half bad yourself!" I shouted, as put my blade away, and leapt onto his blade. This caused my twister to disappear, and his twister had a clear path straight towards me.

That was, until I used the circle still on my shoe to root one foot to his blade. I put my other foot on the ground, and spun around in circle. Once I had a good angle and a good spin, I de-rooted my foot, throwing Drybone into his own twister.

Luckily for him, the twister dissappeared before he fell, because his shoe left the ground.

"Now, are you gonna answer a few questions, or are you gonna run away like the last one?" I asked.

"Camo!" Drybone shouted, before clapping his hands. "We're leaving!"

With that said, he stuck his hands into the ground, causing a cloud of deep mist to appear from the snow.

"Why do they do that?" I asked, as I clapped my hands, which cleared the mist. I walked over to where he was to see if he had left a message. Indeed, there was.

"This is not over"

 **ON THE TRAIN**

"So Ishval's our next stop?" Sam asked.

"No, I have some business that needs attention in Central." I said.

"And what business is that?" Rick asked.

"Well, in case you haven't noticed already, a bunch of Chimera Alchemists are trying to attack me!" I exclaimed. "Smart of them to take me on 2 on 1."

"You're welcome for the help, by the way." Sam said, sarcastically.

"Yeah, you'd be dead if we weren't there." Rick said.

"And I'm assuming that there's going to be some situations like that in reverse sometime in the future." I said.

"Really? Two kids are going to show up, mimic our abilities, and fight us?" Sam asked, sarcastically.

"Honestly, we'll have died by then." Rick said.

"Good point." Sam said.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Well, you've told us a bit about Cassy already. If we tell her what you told us, she and her family will murder you in your sleep, using your body as a meat toboggan." Rick said, causing Sam to laugh louder than the trains engines.

"Somehow, I doubt that's going to happen." I said. "But thanks anyways, I didn't need to sleep."

Sam quited his laugh, and Rick started his own.

"Alright, I'll put it this way." I said, using as psychopathic of a voice as possible. "You mention any of our conversations to Cassy or Sid..."

Instead of continuing, I extended to blade out of my arm, and showed it to them.

That caused them to quiet down.

"Much better." I said, as I slowly put the blade back into my arm. "I am loving this arm blade, you guys gotta get one."

"Nah, that's alright." Sam said.

"Unlike most people, we'd like to keep our biological skeletons INSIDE our bodies." Rick said, as we sat and chatted on the rest of the train ride to Ishval.

 **Well... That was exciting. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.**

 **Anyways, tell me what you guys thought. Leave a review, add this to your favourites, and add it to your alerts as well if you enjoyed it.**

 **If you didn't quite enjoy it, leave a review telling me how I can improve. See you next time, where we may receive a revisit from a two-faced girl... Assuming you know who I mean.**

 **Bye for now!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Cassy in Ishval

"Finally, we're here." I said, as the three of us stepped off the train, and planted a foot into the desert town of Ishval.

"Wasn't this place rubble a few years before we were born?" Sam asked.

"Oh yeah." Rick said. "Apparently, it was attacked by an army of homonculi."

"I call bullshit." I said. "If what your mom told me was true, there were only 7 homonculi, not a whole army. I'm still having a hard time believing that there were any to begin with."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Well, the technique I used would have been used to create a homonculi, had I used it on a dead human." I said. "However, it would only live for a few seconds, and would barely be considered human to begin with."

"Maybe it works in some other world." Rick said.

"Do you really believe there's another world out there?" I asked.

"It's always possible." Sam said.

"It's also improbable." I said.

"Well don't ditch the possibility and tell us about Cassy." Rick said.

 **No, this is not a plot point. Don't get your hopes up about an FMA and FMA Brotherhood crossover, it's not likely... Also, it wouldn't work too well. I just did it for a little gag.**

"What's there to tell?" I asked. "She's a natural blonde, has little innocent eyes, wears her hair back, she's single-."

"And after doing research on her family, she can kick your ass a thousand times over in the time it takes you to blink." Sam said.

"No shit she's single." Rick said.

"Why do you think you guys are here?" I asked, causing the twins to gulp, which resulted in me laughing. "Although if you get on her good side... Well, let's just say you won't have to worry about Travis anymore, even if I'm still traveling while you're back home."

"I don't think he's an issue anyways." Sam said, showing his grandfather's glove on his hand

"Not while we have these." Rick said, showing another glove on his own hand.

"And if he manages to get those gloves from you?" I asked.

"Then we'll bury our faces in the snow." Sam said.

"Better than taking the beating." Rick said.

"I'm not so sure about that." I said, turning to face them. "But his beatings are still better than what Cassy would do if she heard what I was telling you on the train."

"And what would that be?" a girl asked, angrily from behind.

"I know that voice..." I said, sounding extremely terrified, as I slowly peered my head around to face Cassy, who cracked her knuckles. She was about a year younger than me, and all the things I mentioned earlier were there... Except one thing.

"Where's that innocent look in her eyes that you mentioned?" Sam asked.

"She looks pissed." Rick said.

"See ya after you beating!" Sam called out, as the two walked away.

"Yeah, we're gonna go grab a bite to eat!" Rick called out.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" I asked.

"That depends." Cassy said, using her most terrifying voice possible. "WHAT. DID YOU SAY?"

"Just that you're gorgeous!" I said. As terrified as I sounded, it wasn't a lie, that was exactly what I said.

"IS THAT SO!?" Cassy screamed, causing me to scooch away from her. "Well why didn't you just say so?" she asked, using a very innocent voice.

"Uhh... Because I thought you would rip my head away from my brain, shove it up my ass, and force me to shit it out?" I suggested.

"Oh, you know that isn't who I am!" Cassy said, joyfully, as she embraced me in a full on hug. "At most, I would neuter you if that bothered me."

"Uhh... Great to see you too?" I questioned.

"Besides, I could just tell my brother what you told me." Cassy said, still with an innocent voice.

 _Sid's going to kill me._ I thought, as I hugged Cassy back.

 **A FEW HOURS LATER**

"Aww, no black eyes?" Sam asked.

"That's a shame." Rick said.

"You WANTED her to plant her fist into my face!?" I asked.

"Yes." Sam said.

"Twice." Rick added.

"One for each eye?" Cassy asked. "I'll have to remember that request."

I held up my arms to the twins, and tapped my armband, underneath which had my arm blade. This caused them to flinch.

"Anyways, I would like you all to meet my friend." Cassy said.

"Oh yeah, your dad mentioned you were visiting your friend here." I said. "Boy or girl?"

"Why?" Sam asked, curiously.

"If it's a girl, he wants a shot with her." Rick said.

"It's a boy." Cassy said. "And I'll be honest, you probably wouldn't have a shot even if it was a girl."

"Why the hell not!?" I exclaimed.

"Well, for starters, this friend is Sid's age." Cassy said. "Second, there aren't many Ishvalans who go for foreigners."

"You're just trying to ruin my day as much as possible, aren't you?" I asked.

Cassy grinned. "Maybe a little. Come on, his place is this way."

 **ABOUT A HALF HOUR LATER**

"Ah, Cassandra." a man said. His skin was deeply tanned, and he had red eyes. His hair was grey and spiky, with white along the bottom. He looked about 35, maybe 40 years old. "You've returned, and you brought some friends."

"Yes, that's right." Cassy said.

"You use her full name?" I asked. "Different cultures, I guess."

"In Ishval, using ones full name is a sign of respect." the man said.

"And everywhere else, it's the exact opposite." I said, as I walked up to the man, and extended my hand. "My name's Dylan."

"The rest of us would prefer if you called him smartass!" Sam called out.

"I agree!" Rick continued.

"Are they serious?" the man asked.

"I hope not." I said, keeping my hand suspended.

The man smiled, and took my hand to shake. "I am Wong." he said.

 **Yeah, I'm just getting lazy with names. Anyone wanna help with some, that would be great (I already have an actual name for Wolfhand, but any other Chimera Alchemists (and Drybone) , as well as other descendants, go ahead, feel free to name).**

"You know, I have a daughter about your age." Wong said.

"Really?" I asked, curiously.

"And a son about 10 years older than you." Wong continued.

I looked at Cassy. "Your friend is an adult?"

"Yup. He reminds me of Sid, the way she's protective of his sister." Cassy said.

I looked at Wong. "Remind me to never meet your daughter."

"I cannot make a promise on this, as she is inside as we speak." Wong said.

"Of course she is." I said.

"You're going to hit on her, aren't you?" Sam asked.

"Like a dog begging for a treat." I said.

"Her brother is going to kill you, isn't he?" Rick asked.

"Very much so." I said. "Then again, so is Sid..."

"You keep saying that, but you haven't actually done anything yet." Sam said.

"What's the worst he can do? All that happened was that you ran in to Cassy and did some catching up." Rick said.

"And I gotta get her back to Central soon." I said. "I'm not really able to talk to her family without her there."

"Well you'll just have to wait a few days, because I'm not leaving early." Cassy said, smacking my head, and knocking me into the ground. "And don't go talking like I'm not here."

"Why doesn't Rick get a smack!?" I asked.

"Because he's not plotting." Cassy said, as she walked inside. Grudgingly, I followed her.

The interior of the house seemed to fit the exterior. The outside was made out of hardened sand and wood, while the inside kept the desert theme with a brown blanket on the floor, which matched the colour of the sand. On the blanket was a table about knee height, along with 8 pillows, 2 on each side, where people sat.

"I didn't know people still did this." I said. "It stopped happening in the North a long time ago."

 **Yeah, I know, it's not old, it's just a fancy way of Japanese people having meals, which I never quite understood... But, like I stated earlier, different cultures.**

"It's actually very uncommon to see a normal dinner table in Ishval." Cassy said. "I was surprised myself when I found out about it."

I continued to survey the house, but nothing much else stood out. A few sofas, a recliner, a rocking chair... The only other thing I noticed was a Television. What kinds of shows could they get in the middle of the desert?

Once I finished, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Ah, Miranda. Just in time for food." Wong said.

I turned to look at who was standing on the stairs.

The girl was about my age, probably the daughter Wong mentioned. She had pitch black, straight hair with a braid going down the middle, and her skin was deeply tanned, much like her father's. Her eyes also matched Wong's, red. She had a quite small chest, but she made up for it with her adorable features. She could have just as easily been 9 years old, had she no chest at all. Her height was even smaller than mine, by a couple of inches.

The sight of her made me blush a little. I always did have a bit of a thing for midgets. Her face seemed to go red as well, upon making eye contact with me.

Sam and Rick looked at her, then at me, repeatedly.

"Why does he always get the girls?" Sam asked, quietly, making me clench my fist.

"I know. It's not fair." Rick responded, with the same volume. "Are there no girls who like the brainy types such as ourselves?"

"I can hear both of you very clearly." I whispered. "And I'm guessing that she can, too."

The three of us, plus Wong and Cassy, all stared at her, causing her to hide her face behind the railing on the stairs.

"Don't worry about her." Wong said, waving her over. "She's just shy. Perhaps you shouldn't speak to her directly for a while."

I nodded, as Miranda walked over to join us. She sat herself down directly to my left, while the Cassy was to my right. Wong sat next to Miranda, Sam sat next to Cassy, and Rick sat next to Sam.

"So, where's Edward?" Cassy asked.

The name made me flinch. "Edward?" I asked. "Who's that?"

"Oh, he's my son." Wong said. "He should be here any minute now."

"Oh." I said, solemnly. "I see."

"Tell me, young smartass," Wong said, much to the hilarity of Sam and Rick, who quieted themselves down as quickly as possible. "why do you ask such a question?"

"It's just..." I started. "Nevermind."

"Edward was the name of his grandfather." Sam explained.

"He's been travelling for a few days now, after having had surgery and rehabilitation for over a year to figure out things his old man never got to tell him." Rick continued.

"Surgery?" Cassy stared at me. "What for?"

"I..." I said, before looking at her face. She looked so concerned, thinking I did something stupid. I stood up. "It's nothing."

"Where are you going?" Wong asked.

"I'm going for a walk." I said. "I need to be alone for a while."

With that said, I stepped out the door, walked around to the back of the house, and climbed to the roof, using alchemy to help me. Once there, I lay on my back, and stared at the sky. It was a fairly deep blue, with tons of stars shining bright around it, and a full moon.

However, amidst all the stars, one of them seemed to stick out among them, or at least to me.

The dimmest star of all.

 _What was I thinking when I started this whole thing?_ I asked myself. _Having my bones removed from my body, replacing them with metal fakes, getting in to fights... And above it all, I worried Cassy..._

I slammed my fist against a nearby slant, as frustrated as I could possibly be. _Why couldn't I have just listened to Sid? It couldn't have been as worse as this._

"Something troubling you?" someone asked nearby. I sat up, and turned my head to see who it was.

"Wolfhand!?" I exclaimed. "Why are you here!?"

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." Wolfhand said. "I don't really want to fall off the edge of the house."

I sighed. "How did you ever give me trouble?"

Wolfhand giggled, as she sat down next to me. "So, is there something bugging you?"

"Well, three things now."

"Three?" Wolfhand asked.

"First, I'm sitting next to someone who tried to kill me a couple days ago." I said. "Second, I'm sitting next to a girl who I - among everyone else who was there, by the way - saw naked."

"Oh yeah, that's actually why I'm here." Wolfhand said, throwing a piece of cloth at my face.

"What's this?" I asked, removing the cloth from my face, and inspecting it. It looked like a T-shirt.

"It's the shirt you let me wear." Wolfhand said, smiling.

"Oh... Thanks, I guess." I said.

"So what's the third problem?" Wolfhand asked.

"Just some girl issues with someone I like." I said.

"Oh." Wolfhand said. "Is this a girl you've known for a while?"

"Not really, but..." I started. "Nevermind. How about you? What are you going to do now that you've returned my shirt?"

"Well, I can only do things upon my master's instruction." Wolfhand said, standing up. "Since I wasn't sent to kill anybody, I should probably head back."

"Wait, so your master told you to return my shirt, but earlier, he asked you to murder me?" I asked.

Wolfhand grinned. "I may have bent a few rules." she said, as fur crawled up from her right arm, and began to cover her body. "See ya, Exo."

With that, she leapt away, jumping from building to building, landing on them in no particular order, as if to throw me off about where she was going.

 _Exo, huh?_ I asked myself, as I stood up, and leapt off the roof. _I like it._

I went back up to the door, and walked inside. "I'm back."

The instant those words escaped my mouth, I felt 2 large circles against my neck, as well as 2 arms wrap around me, while I saw long, straight, blonde hair behind somebody's neck.

"Cassy, what's the matter?" I asked.

"Why would you do something so stupid?" Cassy asked, clearly genuinely sad. "Remove your own skeleton? Just to get stronger?"

I looked at my wristband. "So you know about that, huh?"

Cassy pushed herself away from me, and nodded. "Sam and Rick told me."

I sighed. "I don't know why I did it. Sid said I needed to be stronger if I wanted to go across the country, so I figured this was the most efficient option."

"So my brother knew about this?" Cassy asked. "For how long?"

"About a year and a half." I said. "He was the one who helped me with replacing my skeleton, as well with assistance in rehabilitation."

I looked deeply at Cassy's face, and I saw tears start to form in her eyes.

"He kept me in the dark about this for a year and a half?" Cassy asked. "You, too?"

I nodded, solemnly. "I'm sorry, Cas." I said.

"I just want to know why?" Cassy said.

"I said already, I don't know." I said. "Maybe I wanted a connection with my old man, because of his prosthetics."

"Why not a finger or a toe?" Cassy asked.

"Because I was being stupid, that's all." I said.

Before Cassy could ask anything more, Wong cleared his throat. "If you wish, young smartass, I can tell you about your grandfather."

My eyes widened. "Really?"

Wong nodded. "Our villages most repected monk, a hundred years ago, was one of his allies in the fight against the homunculi."

"Are you his descendant?" I asked.

"Monks do not reproduce." Wong said. "Didn't you know that, smartass?"

"So is that just my nickname, now?" I asked.

"He was very well respected among all of us, despite his use of Alchemy." Wong continued, ignoring my question.

"Is Alchemy not really allowed in Ishval?" I asked.

"Well, we prefer to keep things the way god intended, instead of bringing destruction wherever we go." Wong said. "This monk, however, seemed to follow both of these principles."

"What was his name?" I asked.

"He called himself 'Scar', because of a scar left on his face by a State Alchemist." Wong said. "However, after the homunculi incident, he abandoned that name, as well as any others."

"So what was his relationship with my grandfather?" I asked.

"I believe I shall start from the beginning."

 **AFTER EXPLAINING SCAR'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ED**

"HE TRIED TO DO WHAT NOW!?" I exclaimed.

"He wasn't the most fond of State Alchemists." Wong said.

"Still... He tried to murder my grandfather!?" I asked. "What the hell? Shouldn't his main target have been the one who killed his family and scarred his face?"

"None of our predecessors enjoyed watching him act upon anger." Wong said. "Sadly, that's as far as my knowledge goes."

I sighed. "I guess I could head back to Resembool. I gotta see if Sid has any maintenance for me."

"He will have maintenance for you, trust me." Sam said.

I looked at the twins. "Why's that?"

"Because, even if your skeleton's in perfect condition," Rick said, grinning. "it won't be once he's finished you."

I shuddered at the thought. "Alright, let's go to the train station, guys."

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Wong asked. "Miranda, go search for leftovers for the smartasses."

Miranda walked out of the room, and came back, carrying a bag, inside of which contained 3 more bags, each one labeled with my name, as well as Rick's name, and Sam's too.

"Rick, you may wanna see this." I said, as the three of us exited the building

"What's he gotta see?" Sam asked, as the two came over, and I showed them Rick's bag.

 _Rick, come see me again some time, okay? - Miranda_

Surrounding her name was a bunch of hearts.

"Well well well." Rick said, grinning. "Looks like I made a larger impression than you this time, Dylan."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm gonna be hearing about this the whole ride, aren't I? From both of them."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Let's just say I notice things." I said.

Rick looked at Sam. "What does he mean by that?" he asked, receiving a shrug from his twin.

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I appologize for the inactivity, I've been posting on recently. You should check my stuff out there.**

 **Anyways, until next time, be sure to leave me some feedback on this chapter, as well as follow and alert if you enjoy the story so far. Take care!**


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